Fundamental analysis is one of the true cornerstones of investing and it can be applied to all asset classes. It looks at what causes price to move up or down and uses this to anticipate and profit from future price moves. It can be used to analyze a national economy by examining areas like gross domestic product, employment, inflation and the monetary policy of a central bank. It can be used to analyze an individual company by examining its financial statements like assets, liabilities and earnings as well as its management and competition.
Fundamental analysis can also be applied to whole industries by examining the drivers of supply and demand. There are many different fundamental trading and investment strategies and most of them try to determine the fair value of an instrument by analyzing the underlying drivers of price. If the current market price of an instrument differs significantly from this fair value, it will eventually gravitate towards it, as long as none of the fundamental drivers change.
